The last thing I remember was seeing Selene in her transformed state entering the room I destroyed in a large portal and being beyond angry. Opening my eyes now, I see a bright floating light that looks like a bright light inside of an ornate cage.
Fearing another assassination attempt, I forced my weak body to sit up in the bed I was in. Looking around the room, I saw a handful of similar beds, and curtains that could be used to cover a bed for privacy if needed. A hospital?
Despite my body refusing to cooperate, I took a deep look around the room, trying to see if there was any other invisible Fae just waiting to get the drop on me again. I did not want to blow this room up as well, as hospitals were traditionally a no-combat zone for all races, in my previous world, and works similarly in this world as well.
There was nothing I could do as I was now, and making contact with Selene was the important part. At worst, she can help protect me until I can do it myself. “Selene, where ar-” AGH! I fall back into the bed gripping my head, which feels like it just got shocked by a lightning bolt when I tried to use the mental magic of Selene’s.
I was of no use physically, so I focused inside my body, and tried to observe my mana state. Sluggish was a modest word for it. The reaction time of the mana which had been refined into near-instant response, was now like trying to get the attention of a child running around playing with a toy.
What is happening? This is beyond being exhausted. Could it have to do with some after effects of the poison?
Any attempt to contact Selene with our mental magic will likely just result in that thunderbolt in my head, so that was off the table. All I could do was the same thing I did, focus on training.
The normal mana channel refinement was off the table, so let’s go back to the basics, the same thing I did as a baby. Sitting up in bed once more, I got into the normal meditation position, albeit not as comfortably, and focused on absorbing the plentiful ambient mana in this room, and spreading it throughout my body to replenish the lackluster amount inside it.
I was in the deep meditation trance for roughly two hours, before I heard a door open and quickly exited it to look at the visitor. Prepared to try whatever I needed to if it was another assassin.
“Glad to see you’re awake. Before you remake my face like you did the poor sap who tried to kill you, I am no enemy. Well, I know that’s what everyone who is an enemy would say, but I’m not” A older Fae man with long slicked-back black hair, sharp green eyes, and a resting face of disinterest.
I examined him carefully, and he sighed and put his arms up as he began to walk over to me, “My name is Sylas. I am a professor of all things magical in the Fae Realm, and widely renowned for my store of experience and knowledge with magic. That means I am bothered by countless requests for me to attend events, work for a nation’s personal laboratory, and other various annoying and tedious tasks that only serve to get in my way of researching”. Oh, so this is the Fae Professor Selene had been looking for.
My voice hoarse, I asked, “My name is Luce, Selene mentioned you. Do you know where she is?” and Sylas looked at me a bit awkwardly.
“That partner of yours caused more damage than you did in the room. When she found you in the Lord of Wrath’s arms, going unconscious and visibly poisoned by a Fae assassin in her own residence? It was not a pretty sight at all”.
Selene did that? She always looked so calm and reserved, who knew she was hiding a monster inside of her too? Looks like we have more in common than I originally thought…
Sylas continued, “She was in the throne room while the Lords were discussing what was to be done regarding the assassination attempt. When the discussion of the antidote was taking too long, she was about to start destroying the thrones themselves when one of the Head of the Fae Oracles personally arrived in the throne room, and gave Selene the antidote”.
“Why did they have the antidote already prepared? Could it be that they..” Before I could finish asking my question, Sylas gave me a stern look and quickly said, “Do not finish that thought. The Oracles are held in a higher respect than the Lords themselves, and even I will not allow slander of any form regardless of the situation. The Head Oracle said she had foreseen the attempt and prepared the appropriate antidote in advance, as she is not allowed to intervene with the events she foresees, none of the Oracles can directly intervene”.
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I understood that my assumption had been disrespectful, “I would bow towards you, sir, but currently I am unable to do so. I apologize for the lack of respect I showed the Oracles, and hope you will dismiss it as an aftereffect of the poison confusing my mind”, I said to Sylas respectfully. This is the man Selene thought could help me, and I could not afford to offend him at this stage. My abyssal power directly telling me to hurry and form the core has me in a rush.
“You’re a smart child. Using the “after-effects” of the poison to dismiss your rude remark. I like people who use their minds correctly, and will look past your remark this time due to the poison affecting you and all” he said as he winked at me.
“So where is Selene now, Sylas?” I asked once again, hoping she was not in trouble because of me.
“She brought you the antidote and we administered it to you, so you will be in here a few more days to recover fully, in the meantime she has guards posted outside the perimeter entirely, Lord Wrath’s personal guarantee of protection, and is offering her services to repair the damage caused by you both” Sylas looked at me like he thought Selene and I were destruction-crazy maniacs for a moment.
I breathed a sigh of relief at the knowledge Selene has not gotten into serious trouble. Oh, but do we know who was responsible? “Sylas, I wan-”
“You want to know if the culprit is known? It’s not an easy answer, but the Fae who assassinated you was of the Lust faction” and my eyes went cold with anger towards Lust thinking she had ignored my reminder, but Sylas continued, “However, the member was one who had been exiled prior to your arrival, so for now it is not confirmed if it was Lord Lust who sent them after you”.
Not confirmed, but still looking like it. Who’s to say this assassin wasn’t exiled prior in case of a secret political assassination needing to occur “off the records”?. Perhaps she is innocent, but I’m not holding my breath about it.
There is a cost for trying to kill me, and I still don’t consider it even after Selene went on her rampage.
I stared at my fist, and willed the mana to flow into it, faster than before but still slow, and recalled the feeling of when I used the flame that Wrath said caused his Sin to react, and imagined the same thing happening again.
The flame to burn those who oppose my path. The fire that will burn away the falsehoods of reality and reveal the truth. IGNIS!
When I spoke the name that came to me when imagining the self-made spell once again, my fist lit up in a dark crimson flame, encasing my hand like a fiery glove. This was the spell’s true name. I recall that the Fae place great importance on true names, and that they hold power over the owner of the name. If that is the case, I should be able to use it to summon this flame on command, and not have to follow the same process as normal spellcasting.
Sylus was first surprised by me summoning the Wrath flame, and then he stared at it in wonder like a child in a toy store. “I heard the tales of you doing this when you entered the throne room, but to see it in person is a different story!”
His left eye went from a sharp green to a color that fluctuated between seven different colors as he looked at my flame. “Is that eye able to see the Seven Sins or something of that nature, Sylas?” Sylas looked at me quickly real quick, nodded approvingly, and went back to admiring the flame.
“Yes, this special eye of mine is one of the reasons I am able to do the research I can. It allows me to detect and read the levels of mana and any Sin usage. Looking at your flame, it’s quite shocking and a cruel sight to see in a child of your age. Please release the spell.”
I did as he asked, and did not realize the anger in my chest had begun to rise and went away when I released the spell.
Looking at Sylas in shock, he said, “The Sin of Wrath is the strongest one in terms of power, but is also the most corrupting of the Seven Sins. Its power is fueled by negative emotions like anger, hatred, and other feelings like that. Fae of the Wrath faction have to experience a large amount of bloodshed and fighting to grasp the essence of the Wrath Sin. So for a child like you to not only have grasped it, but have a high purity of it is… Tragic” Sylas patted my head as he looked at me with sadness and pity in his gaze.
“I…” Sylas cut me off and said, “It’s okay, Luce. The world we live in is cruel, and unforgiving. It’s a shame a child like you is not able to be one, but you are clearly of strong mind and will. Remember something though, only use the Wrath flame when you need to. Your strong will can prevent the corruption of the Sin, but even that is finite if you use it for too long at once. Fae who get corrupted by it turn into bloodthirsty berserkers that attack any living thing, even their closest family and lovers”. He told me sternly.
“Your version is fascinating, as it is a Wrath flame powered by non-Fae mana. Normally this combination would not work, but perhaps you are key to a new school of magic. Or maybe it’s something only someone with a unique body like yours can do. We’ll find out one day”.
He shrugged his shoulders as he got up and said, “I will inform Selene of the news that you have awoken. Doctor’s orders are for you to remain in bed until you are cleared to get up and exercise. You are allowed to do the meditations you were doing prior to my arrival in secrecy and all” he laughed as he headed out the door.
Was he making fun of me?
Resuming my meditation, trying to quickly refine the sluggish effects on my mana from the poison once more, I noticed something different while controlling the mana through my channels around my chest. In the reservoir I had burrowed in my mana channels near the abyssal power, the power had grown, to where I could feel like my mana could touch it now.
Ignoring the fact for now that Selene was likely to be pissed at me for intentionally acting without her around, I channeled a small strand towards the abyssal power. To my surprise, it didn’t feel like it was being consumed like with Selene’s mana, but a connection was being formed instead. Like a pathway similar to the mental magic Selene uses, but from deep inside my being instead.
[Lucian, can you hear me?] The voice I remember from my dream asked me.